How to Check if iPhone is New, Refurbished, or Replacement

If you’re buying a used iPhone or repairing an iPhone, you may wonder if you can find out if the iPhone was bought as new, is a refurbished model, or is a replacement device provided by Apple via a service request.

Wonder no more, you can use an interesting device model identifier trick to discover if an iPhone is new, refurbished, a replacement, or even personalized by engraving. This can be helpful information for buyers of used devices, if you’ve received a device as a gift or hand-me-down, if you’re troubleshooting or repairing an iPhone, and more.

How to Determine if iPhone is New, Refurbished, Replacement, or Personalized

You can decipher the device model prefix to determine the original status of an iPhone (and probably an iPad too) device, here’s how:

Open the “Settings” app on the iPhone

Go to “General” and then go to “About”

Look for “Model” and then read the model identifier next to that text, it will look something like “MN572LL/A”, the first character will let you know if the device is new, refurbished, replacement, or personalized:

M – Brand new device, meaning the device was purchased new

F – Refurbished device, meaning the device has been through refurbishing process

N – Replacement device, meaning the originally bought device was replaced by this model likely due to a service request

P – Personalized device with engraving, meaning the device was customized with an engraving on purchase

That’s all there is to it, now you know how to determine if an iPhone is new, referred, replaced, or other. It’s possible there are some other identifier prefixes for iPhone devices that aren’t listed here, if you know of any do share them in the comments.

I have tested this with a handful of my own iPhone devices that I know are either new, refurbished, or replacements, and it has held up. I haven’t personally seen the “P” identifier however.

By the way, it’s important to note the model identifier shown here (like MN572LL/A) is different from the general model (like iPhone X) and model number of the iOS device (like A1822) – admittedly a bit confusing since they all have similar labels, but they are indeed entirely different things.

On the back of the new iPhone 7, the printed part where it says in tiny letters Designed in California…, it looks scratched so it seems like a bit is flaked off leaving a shiny spot.
I rarely used the phone.
I don’t know if it was already there or if it happened after wiping it with screen cleaner.Serial number starts with F7…, but model number starts with MN….
Maybe it was refurbished? I got it from a provider as new. :(

I purchased a supposedly new XS Max on May 25, 2019. The salesperson came out of the back with the top of the box under her arm and phone and bottom box in her hand as if she was opening it. She wanted to be helpful and set it up. Looking at the settings, the last reset date was May 23, 2019, two days before I bought it. I think she sold me a used phone. I still have not reset the phone to have proof.

My iPhone shows a model shows M at the beginning but my phone got spoilt today… I went to a repairer just to find out my iPhone has been replaced with a different screen and even the bored has been worked on… I have changed my screen again and it’s not iCloud screen but but still I have this same model number with M beginning

Coz I bought my 5S from Amazon few years ago and recently gone through your post and checked my 5S and found “MF35H..” parallely I check with one of my friends 6S plus which was purchased in Saudi and that has a model number MK54….in this case how we can identify ?

I purchased iPhone 7 and the model number on the box was MN922KH/A but I do not know if it is refurbished, replacement or brand new.
I also checked on ” Check Coverage.Apple.com website ” using the serial No. shown on box and the message (This phone has not been activated ) doesn’t appear !!! but these 3 sentences appeared : (Valid Purchase Date) , (Telephone Technical Support: Expired) & (Repairs and Service Coverage: Consumer Law Doesn’t Apply )
Please help out. Thanks

just checked the “new” phone purchased at wireless zone last week, 8plus….model is A1864…thoughts?? also daughters same, purchased at the same time, says its called “roy’s iphone”. is that possible on a new phone???!!! thanks in advance

1. Used
– Device was used, internal workings checked and cleaned up with new battery, new casing and OS reset AND the Cellular LIFETIME call time is RESET to ZERO!

2. Refurbished
– Device was ‘more’ used, internal workings checked and cleaned up with new battery, new casing and OS reset BUT the Cellular LIFETIME call time was NOT RESET so LIFETIME call time remains from past owner.

You won’t know which one you’ll get if you buy the Refurbished version even if it’s bought directly from Apple.com.

Obviously, the ‘better’ version is (1) when it’s ‘used’ than completely refurbished.

Found that out when I bought my iPhone 6S Plus from Apple.com!

Refurb models can be sold directly at Apple.com or by resellers, the latter of which you need to be very cautious as you don’t know if the devices were tampered with by the resellers.

Good news is that you can still buy the iPhone Applecare for Refurbed iPhones.

cocopots you aren’t really familiar with any technical topics and that is clear, so here’s an explainer since you didn’t read the article or understand what any of this means: factory refurbishing is handled by Apple, it involves refurbishing an iphone returned to them for any reason, perhaps even changing components. That is different from some ‘anyone’ rubbing an iPhone with a damp rag and then erasing it to sell it to you on ebay or craigslist. Grok that? Probably not.

I have the same question Francisco was asking. I got an replacement ioad pro directly from Apple with Modelnumber NPL… Is it a new device that came with a different packaging or is it a used and refurbished one? Thanks in advance!

As for your replacement, you were given a new device. OK. Great job. That means someone at the Apple store gave you a new iPhone as the replacement rather than go through the standard replacement process due to service request, maybe as even refurb or repaired.

Rubbish. I’ve looked on my old iphone which was purchased ‘’almost new’’ from Vodafone and has the initial M like brand new. It wasn’t brand new for sure because of the faults it had. At least I’ve paid the right price for it.

I would suggest any phone sent back to apple for any reason is going to have the appropriate code. If the phone was a simple return to Vodaphone, and never sent to Apple, they are going to flip it and thus no M.

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